St Mark's ...

Much of the family history of country areas can be gleaned from the churches and graveyards to be found there.

One of a number of small local churches, situated a few hundred metres off the Karkloof road is this small Anglican example - St Mark's. Originally built on the farm Shafton, the land is today part of the SAPPI (South African Pulp and Paper Industries) forest lands. The beautifully maintained church was built in 1860. The surrounding graveyard is separated into family allotments, many of the names familiar to local residents to this day. Originally built as a Wesleyan place of worship by landowner James Methley (after whom the well know variety of Methley plum is named) St Marks is now part of the Anglican Diocese of Natal. Services continue to be held here on the first Sunday of each month, and the chapel is still used for weddings - a ceremony seen here since its early construction. Glancing at the tombstones' dates, family members continue to find their resting place in the grounds of St Marks. They surely rest in peace.

The simple lines of the chapel and the weathered tombstones create a subtle chromatic composition in the settling mountain mists, so much a part of the Midlands summer weather.